Area Realtors Support Local Veteran

The American Warrior Initiative and area realtors presented Abilities In Motion’s Josh Sust a $5,500 grant last week. Josh became an amputee as a result of his service in the US Marines during his third deployment in Afghanistan. The grant will allow him to hire a personal trainer to aid him in his recovery.

Louise Thaxton and Sean Parnell of the American Warrior Initiative came to Cincinnati to educate area realtors on how to best interact and assist veterans. “My goal was to stir them, bring out their patriotic spirit and help thousands of veterans like Josh. None of us can do everything, but each of us can do one thing,” said Thaxton.

Area realtors gather to learn how to best assist veterans returning home.

The group recognizes the important role realtors can play in helping veterans once returning home from deployments. “Guys come back forever changed, sometimes with physical and mental injuries. It’s important for them to have a support group that reminds them that even though they come back different, it doesn’t change the core of who they are,” said Parnell.

Josh made it clear that he intends to pay forward this opportunity, and that attitude is on display everyday at work. Josh’s injury has put him in a unique position to connect with the amputee patients he sees everyday at Abilities In Motion. “Every day he reminds our patients that their injuries do not define them, and he motivates them to overcome the challenges they face,” said Tom Walsh the Lead Prosthetist at Abilities In Motion.

Abilities In Motion has two locations in Cincinnati and is always seeking new and innovative ways to meet the needs of lower limb amputees. More information, including stories of other veterans can be found on their website at www.abilitiesinmotion.com.